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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29332842">the static mechanics of a watched pot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/poalimal/pseuds/poalimal'>poalimal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Overwatch (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fic in the Time of Quarantine, Fluff, M/M, Who's Afraid of a Capitalist State?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:34:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29332842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/poalimal/pseuds/poalimal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is bad at cooking. Well - boiling. Jack is bad at boiling.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the static mechanics of a watched pot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>the snow bit jack in the eye when he peeked out the window. he winced - he noticed gabe sigh, again, in his office. lot of sighing from that sector, today. had he even eaten anything yet for lunch? well - jack could do something about that, at least. down-the-stairs he went, grabbing the keys: thank god the roads were clear. radio said power was back up for most of the city. grocery was largely empty - everything closing early 'cus of the curfew.<br/> <br/>'made it just in time,' simdy joked, when jack jogged up to her line. she looked tired. it seemed like all the people in jack's life looked tired, lately. they talked about the teacher strike up at the college - how exams kept being rescheduled. jack cheerfully admitted he hadn't looked for a new job at all that morning. at one point simdy turned her back to pull out her phone - checking-in on her aunt again - and jack slipped her a big tip. simdy called it a white guilt tax.</p><p>it was maybe 3 by the time he got home - dark out, then, and getting darker. he didn't bother with the freezer for the dumplings - he knew how gabe was with any kind of dumpling-like object. one-by-one, he plopped them in, to a slowly boiling pot of water.</p><p>hm. how long was he supposed to boil them for? he didn't take his eye off the pot. last time he looked away for three seconds, he almost burnt the house down. </p><p>vaguely he reached around backwards for the rolled-up pack of dumplings, hoping to revisit the instructions - instead he touched an arm, a chest, oh - he turned - and gabe was there, silent-socked as always, wearing jack's favourite sweater of his. the colour slowly returning to his face as he pushed up his glasses and smiled: a face that said 'lunch break' like nothing else. 'hey babe,' he said, his voice croaky and tired - he'd gotten up so early for his presentation, it was clearly hitting him now. 'missed you.' </p><p>'hey hon,' jack grinned back at him, kissing him fondly on the mouth - missing, and landing only a little south of his nose. gabe's eyes crinkled up - they got a proper, husbandly kiss or two in - he pulled jack into a backwards hug, leaning over his shoulder with a happy sigh.</p><p>'you made soup!' he said, 'good day for it.'</p><p>'oh, uh,' jack peered dubiously again in the pot. somehow the insides of the dumplings... were now on the outside? that probably wasn't supposed to happen. 'these were supposed to be dumplings, actually.'</p><p>gabe laughed, slow and deep, in his belly. jack felt too relieved to be too sorry - he just wanted to see his husband smile. 'guess we got the best of both worlds, huh?'</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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